Father, son are Freeport firefighters

Freeport Firefighter Terry Raffield, left, and his son, Lt. Terry Raffield, are pictured at the Freeport Fire Department on Tuesday.

By LAUREN DELGADO / Daily News

Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 09:57 PM.

FREEPORT — A decade or two ago, it wasn’t unusual for a young Terry Raffield and his twin brother, Glenn, to sit in a fire engine, strapped in their car seats, and watch their father, also named Terry Raffield, work a house fire or other type of call.

Now Lt. Raffield and his father sometimes work calls together at the Freeport Fire Department.

The lieutenant joined the department full time about five years ago. His father joined about four years ago part-time and as a volunteer before becoming full time in February.

The two worked together previously at Bay County Fire Rescue, where the elder Raffield was the lieutenant and his son was a volunteer.

“It's a privilege to be working with my son,” Raffield said Tuesday at the Freeport fire station. “As long as I live, I’ll hold it precious to my heart.”

Growing up, Lt. Raffield never imagined doing anything but firefighting as he watched his father and his four firefighter uncles.

He said he learned the aggressive firefighting style from his father, who has been a firefighter for 32 years. The elder Raffield described it as “Get in. Get it knocked down. Get out.

“Sometimes a firefighter needs to get a little hot and burnt,” he said.

He doesn’t worry about his son any more than other parents worry about their children, he added. The lieutenant knows what he’s doing.

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing this, it’s still dangerous,” the father said.

At Freeport they typically work different shifts, but sometimes cover for other firefighters and end up working together.

Few small fire departments permit immediate family members to work together, but Freeport trusts them they won’t break that trust, the elder Raffield said.

“We respect what we do,” he said. “We respect this city and we represent this city. We’re going to do what we can to make this city shine.”

They also respect each other and understand they have a job to do, the lieutenant said.

But he still asked his dad to make a pot of coffee during his first days with the department.

“And it was a good pot of coffee,” his father said with a grin.

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FREEPORT — A decade or two ago, it wasn’t unusual for a young Terry Raffield and his twin brother, Glenn, to sit in a fire engine, strapped in their car seats, and watch their father, also named Terry Raffield, work a house fire or other type of call.

Now Lt. Raffield and his father sometimes work calls together at the Freeport Fire Department.

The lieutenant joined the department full time about five years ago. His father joined about four years ago part-time and as a volunteer before becoming full time in February.

The two worked together previously at Bay County Fire Rescue, where the elder Raffield was the lieutenant and his son was a volunteer.

“It's a privilege to be working with my son,” Raffield said Tuesday at the Freeport fire station. “As long as I live, I’ll hold it precious to my heart.”

Growing up, Lt. Raffield never imagined doing anything but firefighting as he watched his father and his four firefighter uncles.

He said he learned the aggressive firefighting style from his father, who has been a firefighter for 32 years. The elder Raffield described it as “Get in. Get it knocked down. Get out.

“Sometimes a firefighter needs to get a little hot and burnt,” he said.

He doesn’t worry about his son any more than other parents worry about their children, he added. The lieutenant knows what he’s doing.

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing this, it’s still dangerous,” the father said.

At Freeport they typically work different shifts, but sometimes cover for other firefighters and end up working together.

Few small fire departments permit immediate family members to work together, but Freeport trusts them they won’t break that trust, the elder Raffield said.

“We respect what we do,” he said. “We respect this city and we represent this city. We’re going to do what we can to make this city shine.”

They also respect each other and understand they have a job to do, the lieutenant said.

But he still asked his dad to make a pot of coffee during his first days with the department.